Low pressure valve

ABSTRACT

A valve for venting low pressure gas. A single piece valve made of resilient material includes a flange extending from the top of the valve body and a plurality of flutes extending up the sides of the valve. The flutes allow gas to pass from the interior of a container to the exterior under the flange.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/138,282 filed May 3, 2002 which claims priority from U.S.provisional application No. 60/289,705 filed May 8, 2001.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to low-pressure valves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] All references included herein are incorporated by reference.Low-pressure valves are useful for a range of applications. In manyinstances a container, such as a flask, keg, barrel, etc, containing aliquid, may need gasses to vent without allowing air to enter. Such avent allows gasses to escape the container without introducing possiblecontaminants into the container. One example of this is in wineproduction. Wine is fermented in barrels where introduced yeast convertssugar from grapes into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide isvented from the barrels to prevent the gas from redissolving in thefermenting wine, resulting in carbonation.

[0004] Presently a number of devices are used as low pressure vents torelease gas from fermenting wine. Although these devices are rathervaried, they do share some similarities. Many of these devices aredesigned having a cork shaped tapering cylindrical body. In this way thestopper may be fit into a variety of holes. These devices are typicallymade of a resilient polymeric material, allowing further elasticity.These devices typically have some passageway from the bottom to the topof the stopper allowing gas to pass from the liquid to vent into outsideair. Typically a second piece covers or impedes the passageway. Thissecond piece is attached such that low gas pressure allows this piece tobe displaced slightly, venting gas from within the container to theoutside air. The resilient second piece then conforms back to itsoriginal position. Examples of such devices include anchored stoppers,passageways covered by secondary flaps, or balls retained by an annularlip within a stopper passageway. Such devices may be seen in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,947,326 and 5,702,018.

[0005] These devices share some common shortcomings. The taperedcylinder design does allow the venting stopper to be used in a varietyof openings. However, the profile of the stopper will differ dependingon the size of the hole. If the hole is too large, the stopper will seattoo low in a barrel. This will make the stopper difficult to remove.Attempts to pry out a stopper that has sunk too far into a hole couldresult in damage to a barrel as well as costing workers time. Given thatwine aging barrels are quite expensive, damage to barrels can become asignificant cost. If the hole is too small, the stopper will seat toohigh on the barrel. This will cause a portion of the stopper to stick upfrom the side of the barrel. This increases the risk of the stopperbeing accidentally knocked loose (e.g. by a forklift moving barrels).

[0006] In addition to this drawback, the common two-piece stopper isdifficult to clean. The different parts of the stopper must besterilized. Getting these pieces sterilized requires some manipulationof the stopper to ensure all parts of the stopper valve are clean. Inaddition, these valves may be difficult to insert and remove. Thepresent valves are press fit or pounded into the casks. This fit may bequite tight, requiring additional time and effort to remove the stopperwithout damaging the wine barrel.

[0007] It is an object of this invention to provide a low-pressure gasrelief valve that may be inserted in holes of slightly varying sizes andstill have a uniform profile in relation to the hole.

[0008] It is a further object of the invention to provide a low-pressuregas relief valve which is simple to clean and easy to insert and remove.

[0009] It is a further object of the invention to provide a low-pressuregas relief valve that is simple in design and uses less material thanconventional gas relief valve stoppers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The above objects have been achieved with a simplified, one-piecegas relief valve. The valve has a cup-shaped body with a floor at thebottom of the body and an annular flange at the top. Preferably theannular flange is somewhat concave and arcs toward the bottom of thestopper, creating a low, rounded flap. This flap may be used both tovent gas (which is released from under the flap as the gas pressurebuilds) and as a pull-tab to easily remove the stopper from holes. Inaddition, the shape adds tension, holding the flange against a surface.As with other stoppers, this stopper is made from a resilient polymericmaterial. One or more grooves extend from near the bottom of theexterior of the body to near the top, sufficient such that gas may movefrom inside of the barrel to the top of the flange. Preferably, multipleside grooves are used. This both allows efficient gas release but alsoallows for greater elasticity of the cup-shaped body, allowing thestopper to compress somewhat to fit into different sized holes. The cupshape may be somewhat tapered to enhance this effect. In addition, thebottom of the part may be slightly thicker than the cup top near therim, allowing for a snug, secure fit. In one embodiment, the cup has aplurality of grooves. Between each groove on the inner side of theflange is a slight lip. This lip has a lower height than the curvatureof the flange toward the barrel (or bottom of the stopper). This lipfits against the edge of the barrel hole and ensures that the gasexiting from the barrel is not blocked. This acts as a physical limit tothe depth the stopper may be inserted, insuring that the stopper isnever inserted so far that the gas path is blocked.

[0011] The flange when inserted into a barrel fits snuggly against thesurface of the barrel. The flange has a very low profile, which isuniform for any hole in which the stopper is inserted. Gas may move upthe body in the groove, and will flow out of the annular flange when thegas pressure is sufficient.

[0012] This one-piece low-pressure valve has no through holes;therefore, allowing for easy cleaning.

[0013] This valve may be inserted by hand and removed without tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is a bottom view of the valve, with a dashed line toindicate wall thickness.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a side cutaway view of the present valve of FIG. 1.

[0016]FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the present valve insertedinto a barrel.

[0017]FIG. 3B is the view of FIG. 3A with a cap piece affixed onto theopen top.

[0018]FIG. 4 is a rotated cross-sectional view of the valve of FIG. 1inserted into a barrel.

[0019]FIG. 5 is a perspective of the present valve inserted into abarrel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] This invention has been primarily described for use with winebarrels. However, it is easily adaptable for use in other applications,such as cell culture, commercial fermentation, beer brewing, steamventing, etc. in which low pressure gas (e.g. gas under 3 psi) may needto be vented from a container. The stopper could be placed over a holein the container, allowing the gas inside the container to vent.

[0021] In reference to FIG. 1, the present valve 10 is a one-piece valvemade of a resilient material. Valve 10 includes resilient flange 16,which extends from the cup-shaped body of the valve. Extending from theclosed bottom 12 of the cup-shaped body are flutes 24. A single flutewould be sufficient to vent gas. For other applications, 4-8 symmetricalgrooves running from the bottom of the valve body to the top could beused. Extending between flutes 24 is lip 18, which forms part of flange16.

[0022] In FIG. 2, valve 10 in cross section shows that side walls 11 andbottom 12 form the cup-shaped valve body. This has a closed bottom endand an open top end 14. Extending from rim 22 at the top of the valve isflange 16. The bottom outer edge 20 of flange 16 is angled such that theflange seats flat against a container surface as opposed to catching oncontainer surface when the valve is inserted into a container hole. Lip18 acts as a stop to limit the insertion depth of the valve into a hole.This prevents the flange from sealing to the surface of a container whenthe valve is inserted into a hole. Side flutes 24 allow a low-pressuregas to move from the bottom of the valve to the area below flange 16.

[0023] In FIGS. 3 and 4 a cross sectional view of the valve insertedinto an opening in a cask is illustrated. The two cross sectionsillustrate the cross section at the location of a flute (FIG. 4) and thecross section at the location having no flute (FIG. 3A). In FIG. 4,flange 16 is held biased against cask 30 when valve 10 is inserted intoan opening in the cask. Gas at a low pressure may travel from the caskinterior up flute 24 and out from under flange 16. Closed valve bottom12 prevents gas from escaping through the valve. This will occur at eachof the various flutes of the valve. In FIG. 3, the lip 18 is heldagainst the cask surface 30. The height of lip 18 will prevent insertionof the valve 10 too far into the hole in the cask. Flange 16 is thusprevented from being completely flat against the surface of cask 30. Aperspective of valve 10 inserted into a hole in cask 30 with flange 16extending about the rim of the hole is shown in FIG. 5.

[0024] Unlike some other valves, this valve is not subject to“sticking”, which could occur when parts of a two-part valve are incontact. The pressure needed to move a two-part valve in an initialrelease of gas may be higher due to frictional forces between the piecesor material attraction. In the present valve, greater consistency ofpressure release is expected. Selection of materials or valvebody/flange thickness could allow for greater or lesser materialresistance, allowing greater or lesser pressure requirements for gasrelease.

[0025] The valve may be made of silicone rubber or other resilientmaterial. If the application requires that the valve prevent the passageof light, a dye may be added to the polymeric resilient material suchthat it is not translucent.

[0026] In FIG. 3B the valve is shown with a cap 50 covering the open topof the valve. Cap 50 has side flanges 54 extending over valve flange 16.Side walls 52 extend downward into the body of the valve, securing thevalve firmly in place. This cap may have one or more (e.g. 8) sideflutes to allow compressibility, making the cap faster to insert. Use ofthe cap could prevent dust or water from gathering in the body of thevalve.

1. A method of venting gas during fermentation comprising: insertinginto a hole in a wine cask a one piece valve, said valve compressing tofrictionally fit into said hole such that a valve body extends into saidhole and a flange extending from a rim of an open top end of said valvebody seats on an exterior surface of said cask; venting gas producedduring fermentation by said valve, said gas moving from a cask interiorto a cask exterior by moving up a channel on said valve body, saidchannel extending from an area on said valve inside said cask to an areaon said valve where gas may move to said flange, said flange allowingrelease of said gas by said valve.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising a further step of removing said valve following fermentationand cleaning said valve.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step ofinserting includes limiting depth of insertion of said valve byinserting said valve to a depth defined by a flange shoulder, saidflange shoulder disposed at the rim of said valve body.